The daily life of a viking
by painted-red-colored-blue
Summary: This takes place between HTTYD 1 and 2. So this is about Hayla, who is a new girl in the dragon training class, and her time in Berk. And I'm horrid at summaries, so don't decide to read based on this awful description. The OC, Hayla, is kinda sorta supposed to be based off of my bff Priceless Cat Lady Enjoy my little gumdrops!
1. Soaring

Hayla grinned and patted Julius, her Changewing, on the neck. Below her, the dragon training class and their dragons in training cheered her on. Julius had finally mastered the art of graceful flying. A sense of accomplishment flowed through her. She had finally done it! After a year of tumbles, scrapes, bruises and burns, Julius had finally done it! A voice came from her right, surprising her. Julius grunted and just shifted to help her up. Hiccup and Toothless came into out of her blind spot and into view.

"Congrats Hayla! I knew you would get it eventually! See you in the arena!" Hiccup smiled kindly as Toothless folded up his wings and plummeted in a downward spiral. Julius, not wanting to be outdone, shot a stream of acid into the sky and then raced downward, ahead of the acid. Only one drop of acid hit Hayla, putting a whole in her shirt.

"Again Julius? At least this time you didn't burn my shirt off." Julius turned to look at her and roll his eyes. Hayla laughed, remembering the first time Julius had tried that trick and splattered her with acid. She hadn't known it was acid because it was her first time riding him. It was only when she landed did the others point out her bare chest and red skin. Julius finally spread his wings and gently landed amidst the mix of adolescent vikings and young dragons. Hiccup offered her a hand and she slid down. Was it just her imagination or did Astrid roll her eyes and look the other way. _No matter. This is my celebration, not hers._ Hiccup embraced her in a hug and pulled away, his eyes cheerful and bright. Ruff and Tuff each grabbed a horn on her helmet and pulled her head back so she was looking at them.

"Wow good job Hayla. You didn't even burn off your shirt this time!" Tuff said. Ruff let go of her antler and punched him in the arm. Tuff, being the overdramatic guy he is, let go of the other antler and clutched his arm.

"Ouch! I am hurt! I am very much hurt!" Tuff staggered off, with Ruff rolling her eyes behind him, calling out congratulations to Hayla over her shoulder. Snoutlot just nodded and smiled. Hayla took off her helmet and hung it on one of Julius's horns. Throwing her waist length brown hair over her shoulder, she turned and patted him on the snout. He pushed her in return, knocking her back and into Hiccup, who was with Toothless. He put a hand behind her back before she could fall over and helped her up, smiling the smile that wrinkled the bridge of his nose. As soon as she was up-right, Astrid walked over, flipping her hair over her shoulder. Giving Hayla a look like you would give a half-eaten fish, she smiled at Hiccup.

"Wow Hiccup. You and Toothless looked really good. You must have been practicing a lot." She raised her hands up and fixed her headband. Hayla self-consciously ran her hand over her long hair and touched the stump of her left arm, which had been bitten off back when the dragons hadn't been as friendly. Julius nudged her, as if meaning to reassure her. Seeing that this conversation was now over, she retrieved her helmet from Julius and led him back towards the house. _I'm no match for Astrid. She has the looks, the dragon skills, the charm. And not to mention she has both of her arms. _Hayla stopped and tugged the big oak door open. Julius followed her in and she took off his saddle. Unlike most vikings, she had no parents. They had been killed around the same time she lost her arm. She had been raised by Gobber, the village's weapon's maker. _Okay you need to stop dwelling in the past. You have to get over Astrid and for Odin's sake stop thinking about your parents. You have other things to do. _ Shaking her head to clear the thoughts she left Julius in the house and went over to the mess hall. Gobber was there, his hook hand switched out for a mug of beer. Hayla went and sat down with the vikings from the dragon training class, where Ruff and Tuff were fighting, Snoutlot was trying to wow Astrid, Fishlegs was reading, and Hiccup was feeding chicken to Toothless. She took her seat and started eating her food. Whatever it was, it was fresh. Gobber usually just combined the leftovers from that whole week into one dish at the end of the week. As she finished the rest of her meal, Ruffnut stopped fighting with her brother and started talking to Hayla.

"So tonight, we were gonna go fishing on the dock and maybe like jump off of it I dunno. Want to come?" Ruff gave Hayla the look she gives everyone: boredom. Hayla laughed and though about it. She did something with the class almost every night and she was torn between staying home with Julius and going to the dock with everyone else. She remembered the last time she stayed home, and how everyone kind of just ignored her the next day. _That won't happen again._

"I would love to go! What time?" she said eagerly. Ruff grinned and asked Tuff, who stopped inhaling his food just long enough for him to answer.

"Uh I guess after this." Hayla rolled her eyes and went back to her dinner. _Such a sophisticated answer._ She got up to scrape the remnants of her meal into the fire pit, but not before she heard Astrid asking Hiccup,

"So me and Stormfly were wondering if you and Toothless wanted to come with us to the dragon nest tomorrow and just look around. It would just be us so… yeah." Hayla watched as Astrid used both hands to fix her headband as she smiled sweetly at Hiccup. She self-consciously touched the stump where her arm should have been, as she always did. _You've got to stop living in the past. You lost your arm. Now viking up and stop crying over it!_ She didn't wait to hear Hiccup's reply, instead scraping her plate and coming back slowly. She sat down quietly and listened to Ruff and Tuff debating whether we should go fishing or hunting. Astrid had moved next to Hiccup and was talking to him as he drew Toothless, his attention divided between the two. Finally the twins decided on fishing and the class left the mess hall. Each went off his or her own way to feed their dragon and get their fishing supplies. Hayla walked inside her house and found Julius curled up next to the fire, snoring contentedly. As quietly as she could, she grabbed her knife and spear and tiptoed to the door. The second she stepped outside, Snoutlot came running up with a worried expression plastered across his face. The others were trailing behind him, obviously curious as to why he was running. The look on his face was desperate as he grabbed Hayla's arm to steady himself.

"Guys you've got to help me. Hookfang is missing."


	2. Falling

**Oh my gosh hi! I'm Painted-Red—Colored-Blue! I really hope you enjoy my fan fiction! If you want to like review or favorite or follow feel free to. But like no pressure. And I have a double-decker couch so if you want you can come over and we'll watch TV together and be buddies! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer diddly-doodle: I don't own any of the characters from HTTYD but I def wish I did! **

**So yeah enjoy this little tidbit of fan fiction!**

"What do you mean he's missing?" Tuffnut asked, his voice disbelieving. "You can't exactly lose a dragon." Ruffnut hit him over the head with the flat of her sword and turned her full attention back to Snoutlot, who looked like he was about to cry.

"Where was the last place you saw him? Like did you put him in your house or like what?" Ruffnut, who usually didn't care about anything, was being surprisingly caring. _They should definitely go out. _Hayla shook her head. _Not important right now._ Hiccup had gone back to get Toothless while Ruff and Tuff had gone with Barf and Belch to search the woods. Snoutlot had disappeared and Astrid had probably gone with Hiccup. Hayla, stuck with the job of comforting Snoutlot, awkwardly stood there, patting him on the back as he wiped his nose with his sleeve. _Please let Hiccup come back soon. _Just her luck, it was Astrid that came back. Giving Hayla the disdainful look she always did, she turned to Snoutlot.

"We didn't find Hookfang, but we found prints that look like his leading into the woods where Hiccup found Toothless. Do you want to come with us?" Astrid's tone had almost lost its sharp edge, but when she turned to Hayla, it immediately returned.

"I suppose you could come too." She turned and walked toward Stormfly, Snoutlot trailing dejectedly behind her. Turning to her house, she touched her stump, but almost immediately dropped her hand. _I told you to stop doing that! You have to stop dwelling in the past! _Wiping her eyes, she lifted her head and walked into her house. Julius stretched, walked over to her, and nuzzled her as she grabbed his saddle.

"Come on buddy. We have to go help Snoutlot find Hookfang." Julius sighed and helped her get the saddle on with his snout since she had trouble getting it on with one arm. Once it was tightened, Hayla jumped on and rode through the front door. Catching the scent of Astrid and Stormfly, Julius jumped off of the porch and spread his wings. Hayla saw Barf and Belch and pushed Julius to catch up. Suddenly, a low cry came from the woods. As the twins turned their dragon around, Julius circled the woods as Hayla looked for Snoutlot. Seeing a flash of red, she steered Julius downward. He tucked in his wings and spiraled towards the ground. Before they could land, Hayla jumped off of Julius's back and ran over to Snoutlot, who lay sobbing over Hookfang's body. She saw the pool of blood around Hook's front leg and assumed the worst.

"Snoutlot? What happened?"

Snoutlot looked up, anguish clouding his eyes. He wiped his nose on his sleeve and rose up to his full height, towering over Hayla.

"I-I don't k-know. I think he got into one of the traps someone set for a bear. I heard him cry out and I ran over here and… I just don't want him to die!" Snoutlot put his hands up to his face and was still sobbing as Ruff and Tuff came over. As Snoutlot repeated the story to them, Hayla went over to tend to Hookfang. His leg was lying limp in a pool of blood. There were deep gashes in it and Hayla could see the bone. _This is not good. I don't know how to fix this. _Hookfang lay there miserably as Julius came over and tried to comfort him. Just then, Astrid landed and came over, a leather bag filled with medical supplies slung over her shoulder. Hiccup came right behind her, his arms filled with fish for Hookfang. Hayla moved aside so that Astrid could fix Hookfang's leg and went to keep the other dragons from flying off. Julius had come over and was sitting a few feet away from Hookfang. She grabbed Stormfly's reins and led her and Julius over to where Barf and Belch and Toothless were waiting for Ruffnut and Tuffnut to come back. Seeing to it that they were all calm, Hayla went over to Snoutlot who was watching gratefully as Hiccup and Astrid healed Hookfang. Astrid finished stitching up his leg and walked over to Snoutlot.

"Well, it may be temporary, but it should be enough to get him back to the village so the actual healer can fix him. You okay Snout?"

Snoutlot nodded and bear hugged Astrid, this rare burst of emotion surprising all of them. Hiccup walked over and patted Snoutlot on the back.

"I think that if we attach ropes to all of our dragons and fly him back, we should be able to get him home. Would that be okay with you Snoutlot?" Snoutlot nodded.

"Whatever it takes to get him home." Hiccup nodded and walked away, pulling rope out of the packs on Toothless's saddle. Hayla walked over to help him, but Astrid was already there, pulling out ropes and smiling as she did. Hayla was about to walk away when Hiccup called out to her.

"Hayla! We could still use a third set of hands." Hayla smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. Astrid's eyes widened in disbelief as Hayla walked over and began to help them. She sneered at Hayla and looked at Hiccup.

"What help is she going to be? She only has one arm for crying out loud! She can barely get a saddle on her dragon! Thor almighty! When are you going to realize that she can't do anything?" Hiccup opened his mouth to say something, but Hayla surprised herself by saying something first.

"Astrid I don't know why you don't like me. I wish you did, but you obviously don't. And the fact that you keep bringing up my lack of an arm is low. I didn't choose to lose this arm and you need to stop telling me about it. I can do everything you can, even if it takes me twice as long. I can still do it. Now quit making me feel like a maggot every time I walk near you and mind your own business." Astrid's mouth dropped open in surprise as Hayla returned to helping Hiccup. As they attached the ropes to Hookfang, Astrid kept her mouth shut. At last, Hookfang was attached to each dragon by a complicated mess of ropes. Snoutlot was riding behind Hayla on Julius. As they neared the village, Hookfang sighed. _At least we know he's alive._ The dragons gently lowered Hookfang onto the ground outside of Hayla's house. Ruff and Tuff ran off to find the village healer as the others cut off the ropes around Hookfang. As the village healer came running up, the teenagers backed away. Several vikings were running behind the healer with a cart large enough to carry a dragon.

As soon as Hookfang had been taken to the healers house, Hayla invited the others in for some mutton. They nodded sadly, for no one knew what would happen to Hookfang. Hayla went to get the meat as the others sat around her small table. The other dragons all wedged into her house and went to go sit in front of the fire with Julius. Hayla gave them several sheep and some baskets of fish and went to go sit with the others, who had helped themselves to the mutton and were chewing morosely. Hayla joined the quiet group and served herself a small piece of mutton. As everyone finished, they moved to where the dragons were and each viking went to sit with there own dragon. Hayla went to sit with Julius and lay back against his stomach. Ruff and Tuff sat together between Barf and Belch's necks. Astrid sat next to Stormfly and Hiccup reclined against Toothless's neck. Snoutlot simply sat in the chair next to the fire and let tears flow unstopped. No one talked.

A sudden pounding on the door awoke all of the teens, who had fallen asleep. Hayla scrambled to her feet and ran to open the door. The healer and a giant red dragon greeted her. She broke into a smile as Hookfang loped through the door and over to Snoutlot. The healer grabbed Hayla's arm as she started to walk over to the others. His face turned serious as he whispered in Hayla's ear.

"Hookfang is doing remarkably well for what has happened. It may take some adjusting bu-" Hayla cut him off with a thank you and then shut the door. She walked over to the others, where Snoutlot was in tears at the sight of a healthy Hookfang. She smiled and went over to Hookfang, who looked like a very happy dog.

"Wow! He recovered quickly! The healer said something about adjusting…" Hayla trailed off as she saw the empty space where Hookfang's front leg had once been. She touched his stump and then touched her own.

"I guess we're the same now, huh buddy." She smiled and went over to where Julius was sleeping. He heard her coming towards him and looked up. As the others drifted back to their houses, Astrid stayed behind, pretending to be occupied by something on Stormfly's leg. Once the others had left, Astrid walked over to Hayla and stood awkwardly beside her and Julius.

"May I sit?" Hayla nodded and patted the ground beside her. Astrid came and sat and Stormfly went to go lay down in front of the fire. Astrid looked down, as though she were embarrassed by what she had to say.

"Hayla, I need to apologize. I haven't been nice to you and I feel bad. I was just jealous." Hayla looked over curiously at Astrid.

"What were you jealous of? I'm nothing to be jealous of. I don't have an arm, my hair looks like dragon babies nest in it, and my skin looks like chalk. What could you possibly be jealous of?" Astrid looked surprised.

"You really don't know?"


	3. Coasting

"Why would you want to talk to me? I thought I was just the one-armed girl who can't do anything for herself and is always in everyone's way. You don't like me, and I've come to terms with that."

Hayla pulled her knees up to her chest. Astrid looked surprised.

"Hayla, you really think that's why I don't like you?"

Hayla rolled her eyes.

"Well that's kind of what you said like 3 hours ago, so that's probably why I thought it."

Astrid looked down sheepishly.

"Hayla, the real reason I didn't like you is a lot more embarrassing than that. I kinda said that because I didn't want to face the real reason. The real reason was jealousy. I was jealous of you."

Hayla looked at Astrid with surprised expression.

"Astrid, why in the name of Thor would you be jealous of me? I'm completely average. I have one arm. My best friend is my dragon. What is there to be jealous of?"

Now it was Astrid's turn to look surprised again.

"You're thinking about this differently than I am. I'm not jealous of you in the physical sense. I have everything I could want there. I'm jealous of you because of how likeable you are. Tuffnut is less sarcastic around you, Ruffnut actually talks to you like she likes you, Snoutlot acknowledges you, and Hiccup… don't even get me started on Hiccup. He likes you Hayla. It's obvious."

Hayla couldn't help but gasp. Hiccup? He barely even talked to her. Sometimes it seemed like he had agreed with Astrid when she talked down to her.

"What? No he doesn't. He likes you Astrid. Anyone with eyes can see that."

Astrid sighed and looked up at Hayla, her eyes filled with tears. Hayla never had thought of Astrid being a person to get emotional.

"Hayla, we're just good friends. He talks to me about you. He's asked me how to get a girl to like him, how to become friends with a girl, how to wear clothes that matched so that you wouldn't make fun of him. That's why it was so hard for me to be nice to you. I always wanted him to like me instead of you because I thought we were perfect for each other."

Astrid wiped her eyes before any of the tears could fall. Hayla stood up and walked over to Astrid, laying a hand on her shoulder. The blonde viking looked up.

"Astrid, if Hiccup likes me then I'm happy for that. I like him too. But you will always be his best friend. I don't want to think that I could ruin your friendship just because I'm dating him. He barely ever talks to me for Thor's sake. Let's just let what happens happen and then go from there."

Hayla smiled at Astrid and pulled her to her feet.


End file.
